One Person Two Many
by nessva
Summary: A seventh year romance fic featuring HHr and DHr, some arugments, humor
1. One Person Two Many chapter one

One Person Two Many  
Chapter One  
  
It had been the most romantic evening of Hermione's life. The Astronomy Tower would normally be full of students on such a warm summer's evening, all sneaking out of their dormitories for some time alone with their current squeeze. However, this time, Mr. Filch, with the assistance of the ever-faithful Mrs. Norris, had been on the warpath. He'd waited until ten in the evening, when all of the students (including seventh-years such as herself, she thought rather guiltily) were supposed to be back at least in their common rooms, and then struck. There were squeals from the girls and an amazing range of swear words that the boys muttered under their breath as they were ambushed. Smiling gratefully that she had not been caught, she rolled over slightly, to get a better look at the person lying on the flat rooftop next to her.  
  
"I'm so glad you thought to bring your Invisibility Cloak with you tonight, Harry," she said, squirming in closer to him under the cloak, "It would have been horrible if Filch had caught us here and ruined our anniversary."  
  
Harry's eyes bore deep into hers, as if he were trying to see inside of her.  
  
"I know. But let's not spoil our perfect night by talking about Filch." Harry grinned. "Can you imagine what people would say if they knew that we'd spent even a tiny bit of our one-year anniversary talking about Filch? The rumors would start flying faster than a Firebolt."  
  
Hermione giggled into his shoulder, then looked solemnly at Harry. "Well, in that case we'd better not risk talking anymore," she suggested wickedly.  
  
"You'll get no complaints from me," he replied, rolling over so that he was on top of her.  
  
She leaned up towards his face, a face she'd known and trusted ever since she was eleven. "I love you, Harry Potter."  
  
Leaning down so that his mouth was inches from hers, he replied, "And I love you too, Hermione Granger."  
  
There was little talk for quite some time.  
  
*******  
  
Ginny should have been concentrating on her homework, but she was distracted by watching Ron as he circled the common room, snapping at anyone who was breaking even the most minor rule. As he passed her chair, she reached out her arm to stop him. "Ron," she said.  
  
He turned and glared at her. "What is it, Ginny? I'm busy."  
  
"No, you're not. Just sit down here for a moment." She patted the chair next to her, where her boyfriend, Dean Thomas, had been sitting earlier.  
  
Still glaring, Ron obliged and sat sullenly next to her. "What is it?"  
  
"I want to know why you are being so annoying to everyone tonight? Surely you can't be missing Harry and Hermione?"  
  
"Wha-what?" Ron exclaimed. "Where do you get that from?"  
  
Ginny looked sympathetic. "I get that from the fact that you miss spending time with your two best friends, Ron. I know, I know," she said as Ron started to open his mouth to protest, "I realise that you are not in any way jealous of them, I was the first to defend you when people started saying that a year ago when Hermione and Harry first started going out, remember?" Ron nodded. "But I also realise that it can hardly be fun to sit in this common room knowing that your two best friends are up on the roof doing God-knows-what with each other. All I'm saying is try not to take out your anger - or whatever it is - on people who haven't done anything to you, alright?"  
  
Although Ron looked slightly miffed at being told off by his baby sister, he once again nodded.  
  
"Good," said Ginny, satisfied that the matter was closed, "Why don't you do some homework or study or something? I know Dean's up in his dormitory because he can't concentrate down here. Go and study together or, or just do something to keep your mind off, well, off them," she concluded a bit weakly, then picked up her quill as she turned her concentration back to her homework.  
  
Ron started glaring at her again. "That wasn't as subtle as you thought it was, Ginny."  
  
She looked up. "What wasn't?"  
  
"Trying to get me to spend more time with Dean."  
  
With the tired air of someone who has repeated the same argument over and over, Ginny put down her quill. "If you would just spend some time with him you'd get over your pathetic hatred of him; after all, you two only started fighting and only had to be moved into separate dorms after I started going out with him, you got along for the other five years that you lived with him."  
  
Ron opened his mouth to protest, then shook his head in frustration and got up, walking around the common room picking on people again.  
  
Ginny watched him for a moment then muttered, "He's a hopeless case", and focused her attention once again on her homework.  
  
*******  
  
Some time much later, Harry and Hermione were lying side by side on the rooftop, their arms around each other as they gazed through the Invisibility Cloak at the stars above them. Hermione did not have any sense of time left: for all she knew, the sun could be rising in five minutes or five hours. Lying on the deserted rooftop, listening to Harry taking deep breaths...how could her life ever get any better than this? She wondered. She was so absorbed in her day dreams that she jumped as she heard Harry snore. She was most reluctantly dragged from her reverie, and realised that, as much as she never wanted this night to end, they had better be getting back to Gryffindor Tower soon, before they both fell asleep and woke when the sun was up. She slipped her arm out from under Harry's neck and balanced herself as she gently kissed him awake.  
  
"Wow," he said, clearly dazed and choked up on emotion. "I wish you could wake me up every day like that."  
  
Hermione smiled, "I'll see what I can do." She paused. "I really hate to say this, Harry, but I think we should be heading back now."  
  
He grimaced slightly, but sat up. "Alright."  
  
They began making their way slowly back through the castle. Thankfully, Filch seemed to have gone to bed, probably thinking he'd caught enough students for one night. Their journey was unhindered. Not even Peeves was around.  
  
They both paused at the foot of the staircase to the girl's dormitories. Harry put his arms around Hermione's neck and pulled her close. They stayed like that for a few minutes, then Hermione reluctantly dragged herself away. "We really should go now," she said, looking at Harry lovingly. He didn't say anything. It took all of Hermione's considerable willpower to turn and walk up the stairs. Just as she reached her door, she heard a faint "I love you," come floating up. She paused with her hand on the doorknob, then opened the door and went inside.  
  
******* 


	2. One Person Two Many chapter two

One Person Two Many  
Chapter Two  
  
Hermione floated down the stairs to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning. She was still on a high from the wonderful night before. As she entered the hall she spotted Harry straight away. He was eating quietly by himself, and she made a beeline towards him.  
  
"Hi," she said leaning towards him for a good morning kiss. "How are you?"  
  
Harry sighed, "I could be better."  
  
Hermione was instantly concerned. "What is it?"  
  
"I have to go and spend my Saturday doing Quidditch tryouts." He paused and looked at Hermione with a slightly embarrassed smile, "I'd rather be with you."  
  
Hermione blushed then said, "Harry, you've always wanted to be Quidditch captain, and like it or lump it, this is a big part of it."  
  
"I know. It's just, well, after last night I, er, just want to spend time with you, that's all."  
  
"Harry, I feel the same way," Hermione said quietly, "you know that. Anyway, I have a lot of homework to catch up on that I didn't do last night."  
  
"Oh well then," Harry got up, "I suppose I'd better get down to the pitch. I'll see you later."  
  
Hermione him watched as he left the hall. Her thoughts drifted back to last night, how wonderful it had been to be really alone with Harry, something that didn't happen often. She was only snapped out of her reverie when a loud thud announced Ron's presence.  
  
"Earth to Hermione? Houston, we have a problem."  
  
Hermione looked at him, "Ron, you really need to get over your fascination with Muggle movies."  
  
Sticking his tongue out at her, Ron turned and helped himself to some porridge.  
  
"Really mature, Ron," she said.  
  
"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked, ignoring her comment.  
  
"What? I, oh." Hermione stuttered, realising she had been sitting at the table for at least ten minutes without so much as a piece of toast in front of her.  
  
Ron laughed through his mouthful of food.  
  
Turning on him to cover her embarrassment, she said, "Aren't you supposed to be at Quidditch tryouts with Harry?"  
  
"What?" he said. "Oh bugger. See you later, Hermione," he called as he ran out of the hall, mouth still full of porridge.  
  
*******  
  
"Homework, always homework, study, assignments, essays, it never ends," Hermione muttered to herself as she wandered through the dungeon complex towards the seventh-years' study room that afternoon. "It just will never ever end for me. Ouch!" she exclaimed as she dropped a large book on her toe. "Well that's what I get for not paying attention," she muttered, picking the book up and leaning against the dungeon wall in a mixture of frustration at herself and exhaustion from her heavy school workload.  
  
Crr-ack!  
  
All of a sudden, she found herself sliding headfirst on her back down a hole that had opened in the wall. Panicking, she covered her face with her hands and screamed. With a muffled sort of thud, she landed on a surprisingly soft surface. Opening her eyes, she glanced around, at what appeared to be a bedroom. She had landed on someone's bed. Confused, she got off the bed and crept over to the door. Just as she was about to open the door, it swung back so hard it rebounded off the wall. In shock for the second time in only a few minutes, Hermione fell to the floor. She was too busy picking herself off the floor to notice that someone had come though the door and then closed it behind them. It was only when she stood up, and faced the door that she realised she was not alone.  
  
"Well, well, well," said a soft voice, faking incredulousness. "Look at what we have here. An itty-bitty Gryffindor all on her lonesome."  
  
Hermione spun around at the sound of Draco's voice. Glancing up onto his face, she gasped at the look of malice she found. She turned quickly again, eager to leave, when she heard him whisper something she couldn't quite pick up. She grabbed the door handle, but alas, it was locked. Starting to feel scared, she looked at Draco.  
  
He smiled, "A little charm I invented. No-one gets in, or out, without my permission."  
  
Hermione backed herself up against the door. Draco had changed a lot over the past year. He used to just be an annoying little git who called her names such as 'mudblood', but these days there were all sorts of rumors about him beating people up because he decided he didn't like the way they looked at him. Seeing his face now left no doubt in Hermione's mind about the truth of the rumors. She was terrified of him.  
  
"What, nothing to say, Granger? That surprises me. I thought you had something to say about everything." He took a step closer, visibly delighted at the look on her face when he saw Hermione cowering against the door.  
  
"Lo-look," she began, "I-I fell through a wall, and ju-just landed here," she stuttered. "I-I'll just..." her voice trailed off.  
  
"Go? No, I don't think so."  
  
Hermione took in a sharp, very audible breath of air.  
  
Draco slowly walked forward.  
  
Hermione looked frantically to her left and right, trying to think of what she could do. There was nowhere to go. She froze, looking straight ahead as Draco slowly, deliberately walked towards her.  
  
He stopped with mere inches separating them. Hermione couldn't bring herself to care about appearing brave. She closed her eyes as he put his hands on the door above her shoulders. She could feel his breath on her.  
  
"Well, little mudblood, it seems we are in a bit of a bind, aren't we?" Draco said tantalizingly.  
  
Hermione was scared out of her tree. She opened her eyes just as she saw Draco leaning in towards her, and a split second later, she felt his warm, soft lips on hers. She was stunned for a second, and then she began to respond to his kiss. Draco dropped his arms from the door and put them around Hermione, holding her close to him as they kissed.  
  
Hermione suddenly realised what she was doing, and violently pushed Draco away. "What are you doing?" she shrieked, frantically wiping her mouth.  
  
Glaring at her, Draco replied, "What was I doing? Don't you mean what were we doing?"  
  
Hermione started shaking, "No, I-I can't have ju-just done tha... wh-what would Har-" she stopped herself, and looked at Draco, who was still glaring at her.  
  
"What would your poor little Harry Potter say if he knew what you had just done? Tut tut Hermione, you should think more about the consequences of your actions. Never mind, I'm willing to forget this ever happened, if-"  
  
"What? Really? I, well," Hermione started.  
  
"If," Draco repeated, "we can agree to a suitable arrangement," he stated calmly.  
  
"A what?" Hermione exploded. "What on earth does that mean?"  
  
Draco didn't answer her immediately; instead, he turned and sat on the edge of his bed. He patted the bed, indicating that he wanted her to sit there, next to him. She just looked at him as if he were insane.  
  
"Oh for God's sake, Granger, I'm not going to bite you," he paused, thinking. "Unless of course you want me to. Hey, hey, I was joking," he added hastily, seeing a look of anger come over her face.  
  
Taken aback by the sudden change in his attitude, Hermione, against her instincts, walked over and sat on the bed next to him.  
  
"So - erm - what arrangement did you have in mind?" Hermione asked cautiously.  
  
To her surprise, she thought Draco looked rather embarrassed, momentarily at least.  
  
"Haven't you even guessed yet, Granger? I like you. A lot. And I want to-"  
  
"Er- Malfoy," Hermione interrupted him, "Surely you can't have missed the fact that I've been with Harry for over a year now."  
  
"No, I've completely missed the fact that you two snog in public places everyday," he said scathingly.  
  
"Are you jealous?" asked Hermione, absolutely stunned. "Well, to be honest, Granger, yes, I am jealous that you've spent the last year snogging your famous little do-gooder boyfriend."  
  
"How do you know he's lit... whoops," she said, blushing.  
  
Draco raised his eyebrows at her, but let the comment pass.  
  
"Look, Granger, I'm not asking you to marry me. All I want is the chance to see what you're like to," he paused, thinking, "hang out with. Are you going to let me find out?"  
  
Hermione felt a thrill go through her body. She was a logical girl, she had been brought up with morals and she knew right from wrong. She put all of this out of her mind as she answered his question. 


	3. One Person Two Many chapter three

One Person Two Many  
Chapter Three  
  
She put all of that out of her mind as she answered his question.  
  
"Yes," she said. "But on one condition. Stop calling me Granger. My name is Hermione, and I would prefer to be called that."  
  
Draco looked momentarily surprised at her request, then said, "Fine, Hermione. Feel free to call me Draco."  
  
"Ok, Draco," she said, trying out the sound of his first name in her mouth.  
  
"So," he drawled, taking a step close to her, "what do you and Harry do when you hang out?"  
  
"We - er - I mean..." she stopped talking as Draco leaned in again. She closed her eyes, anticipating...  
  
She opened her eyes. Draco had stopped mere millimeters from her face and was just staring at her.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, somewhat surprised by his behavior.  
  
He didn't respond, at least not with words.  
  
*******  
  
"'Mione, are you ok?" asked Ron.  
  
"I - what?" she said.  
  
"Are you ok?" he repeated.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Ron, I'm fine," she replied.  
  
"You've been daydreaming ever since I got back from Quidditch earlier," Ron stated.  
  
"I'm fine, Ron, really," she said.  
  
The portrait door opened and in came Harry, still dirty and looking very tired. He saw Hermione and immediately brightened up as he went over to her. He stopped to the side of her chair and leaned down to kiss her hello. Hermione unconsciously recoiled.  
  
"What's wrong?" Harry asked concernedly.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. I've done a lot of work today. I'm just tired. Actually, I think I might head up to bed now. Goodnight," she said.  
  
Harry and Ron watched her go up the stairs to the girl's bedrooms.  
  
Ron shook his head as Harry sat in the chair Hermione had vacated. "I don't know what's wrong with her, mate. She's been sitting there daydreaming ever since I got back here from practice."  
  
*******  
  
Hermione opened the door to her private room and collapsed on the bed. She couldn't believe that she had spent the afternoon in the Slytherin dungeons, alone, in Draco's room, with him. She turned to lie on her back, settling her head on her fluffy pillows. Draco's pillows in his room weren't fluffy; they were hard and uncomfortable to lie on. Of course, she reflected, her attention hadn't really been focused on that at the time.  
  
Slowly, as she lay there, the implications of what she had done began to sink in. She had cheated on Harry. Harry, her first love. Harry, the one she had been friends with ever since she was eleven. Harry, the one who had saved her life on more than one occasion. It startled her when she felt something dripping down her cheek, she hadn't realised that she was crying.  
  
Once her tears were finally exhausted, she understood she only had one course of action. She had to go see Draco the following day, and tell him that what happened today could never happen again. Then, before Draco's temper exploded and he told the whole school, she would have to find Harry and tell him everything, in the hopes that he would forgive her.  
  
*******  
  
Hermione had a terrible night's sleep. Tormented, she tossed and turned for hours before falling asleep at four in the morning from exhaustion. As a result, she woke late. She quickly dressed, ran through the common room and out the portrait door. She couldn't face going into the hall for breakfast, so she ignored the angry rumbling of her stomach and headed towards the secret entrance of the Slytherin rooms that Draco had showed her. Taking a deep breath, she turned towards Draco's room and hoped that he was there. Pausing outside his door, she realised that she hadn't planned what she was going to say to him. As she reached her hand to knock, the door swung open.  
  
"Grang- Hermione," Draco said, looking startled that she was outside his room.  
  
"Morning," she said.  
  
Draco stepped back inside his room, "Come in."  
  
Hermione came in and sat tentatively on his bed. "I need to say something to you, Draco."  
  
"Alright, speak," he said, kneeling so his face was on the same level with hers.  
  
"We, no, I can't do this, Draco. I can't cheat on Harry. It's, it's just not rig-" she stopped speaking, not by choice, but because Draco's tongue was in her mouth.  
  
She pushed him off, her anger surfacing. He glared at her briefly, then turned and sat cross-legged on the bed, facing her.  
  
"No. We can't do this. I don't want to cheat on Harry, he's never been anything but a fantastic friend to me and it's not right to repay him by, well, by having an affair with his worst enemy. I won't do it to him," she said firmly.  
  
"But you want to," Draco replied. "You don't want to hurt him; I'm not stupid, I can see that. But you do want to be with me. I can see it in your eyes, and I felt in the way you held my yesterday."  
  
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but snapped it shut again. The thing was, Draco was right. She did like him; she liked being around him, being with him. A horrible feeling rose in her stomach. It was the realisation that she was in fact in love with both Harry and Draco. She knew that even though she had only spent one day with Draco so far, as opposed to seven years around Harry, she could feel, as he did, that they had something special. She looked at him, their eyes meeting and holding for a long time. Hermione was the first to look away; his eyes were too tempting to look into for long. Intending to leave, she got up, but Draco caught her arm and turned her to face him.  
  
"We haven't solved this, Hermione," he said.  
  
She just shook her head, tears starting to well up in her eyes, "I don't want this to happen. I wish I wasn't in this position."  
  
"You are, though. Your actions are in your hands, and yours alone. You have to make the decision."  
  
She looked into his eyes again. She could see the passion in them; it was almost like seeing a fire flickering behind his eyes. She made no attempt to resist as he put his arms gently around her and drew her close. Still looking into his eyes, she nodded.  
  
He sat down on the bed, pulling her down next to him. For a moment she hesitated, then seemed to make up her mind. Draco stretched out on his back, and Hermione snuggled in next to him, their arms around each other as they looked at the ceiling, each lost in thought.  
  
Draco withdrew his arm from around her, and twisted so he was on his side, facing her. His hands tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ears, and gently caressed her face. Hermione closed her eyes as his face came gradually closer to hers. 


	4. One Person Two Many chapter four

**One Person Two Many**

**Chapter Four**

The problem with the situation wasn't the thrill of the risk, as Hermione had half expected it to be. It was that she truly and honestly felt deep emotion for both of the boys. After leaving Draco's room a few hours later, all she had done was mull things over as she stared off into space in the library. From time to time, a falling book jerked her out of her thoughts and made her pay attention to her surroundings.

"Miss Granger? Are you still in there?" inquired a familiar voice, while gently rapping their fist on her head.

Hermione looked up. She smiled. "Hi, Harry."

Sitting down beside her, he said, "Why don't we ditch these boring old books and go for a walk around the lake?"

Hermione looked at the books that were open in front of her. She knew she wasn't going to get any work done. "Sure, why not?" she replied. "Let me drop all this off in the common room first though."

"All right, I've got to go to the little wizard's room. I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall," he said.

Hermione nodded. "See you in five."

Hermione hummed happily to herself as she walked up to the Gryffindor common room. She knew that after spending some time alone with Harry, she would see things straight, she would realise that she didn't even like Draco and that the only reason she had _thought_ she liked him was because Harry had been busy the last few days. She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, gave her the password, and happily climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Gladly throwing her heavy bag of books on her bed, she sat in front of her mirror and tried half-heartedly to tame her hair. Giving up, she sprayed on a squirt of her favorite perfume, then ran back down the stairs and out of the common room.

As she was walking along the fifth floor corridor to the next staircase, she felt a massive tug at her arm and went flying headlong into a side room. She landed sprawled out on the floor and quickly took in her surroundings.

A hand was offered to her. "Draco," she said. "I should have guessed. What do you want? I'm in a bit of a hurry."

Draco smiled as he pulled her up, and, not letting go of her hand, pulled her close. "Well, what I've got in mind won't take long."

Hermione twisted away from him, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face. "Seriously, Draco, I'm in a rush."

Draco pouted in a whiny voice, "Oh please, I only want five minutes of your time, please. Pretty pretty please?"

"No, Draco. Besides, the prefects' bathroom isn't exactly private. Now if you don't mind, I'm leaving."

"What if I do mind?" he asked teasingly.

Hermione smirked. "Then you'll have to think of a way to," she paused, "amuse yourself, because I'm leaving." With that, she turned and left the bathroom, hurrying down the stairs to the ground floor.

Harry was waiting for her. "What took you so long?" he asked.

"Sorry," she replied breathlessly. "I got a bit sidetracked by -" she stopped, abruptly.

"By a book," Harry finished for her, as they headed out the doors. "Let me guess which book it was. Hogwarts: A History? No, it can't be, you had that memorized by the end of third year. Er, oh I give up. It doesn't matter."

They walked down the sloping grass to the path around the lake. "It's nice being able to spend time alone with you," said Harry. "I don't think we ever do this sort of thing often enough."

Hermione smiled. "It is nice, isn't it?"

They walked hand-in-hand around the lake, pausing every now and again to look at the Giant Squid when it waved its tentacles up in the air. Hermione began to feel more relaxed than she'd felt in days. They reached the far side of the lake, near the Dark Forest, where Harry stopped, dropped Hermione's hand and looked at her.

"Fancy a walk," he paused and smiled mischievously, "in the forest?" he asked.

Hermione nodded, so Harry grabbed her hand again, quickly checked to make sure no one was paying attention to them and then pulled her off to the cover of the trees. It was a place they had been to more than once before. Trees grew thick and close in this area, creating a sheltered space that was almost entirely private. They sat down leaning against a fallen log together, Hermione leaning her back against Harry, and Harry with his arms around Hermione's waist. It was a most peaceful place to be, surrounded by nature, completely alone with each other. Harry lent forward and started to nuzzle Hermione's neck. She let out a surprised giggle, and suddenly turned to face him, tears welling in her eyes, as she was abruptly consumed with guilt.

"'Mione, what's wrong?" Harry asked, shocked at seeing her looking so upset.

"I – I," she fell silent, unable to describe what she was feeling.

"What is it, Hermione? Is it school? Your family?" Hermione just shook her head as the tears began to cascade down her face. "It's all right. You don't ever have to tell me anything if you don't want to," he held her close to him, not wanting her to be alone with her pain, whatever it was.

She stayed like that until she was finally able to control her tears, "Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't want to spoil our walk by-"

"Nonsense," said Harry firmly. "Hermione, nothing you do could ever spoil _anything_ for me. You know that. I love you."

Hermione looked at Harry's trusting face and smiled weakly. "I love you, too."


	5. One Person Two Many chapter five

**One Person Two Many**

**Chapter Five**

Potions was still the worst subject on anyone's timetable. There were many times when Hermione regretted choosing to study it at NEWT level. Snape was no less critical than he had been when they were in first year. She knew Harry felt the same way, although it was slightly better for him because to become an Auror, he had to take potions. So his 'imprisonment' in the dungeons for lessons was nearly out of his hands. Still, she thought, the lesson was finally drawing to a close. A jab from Ron reminded her that she was supposed to be pouring a sample of the potion into a container for marking. Startled, she jerked her arm, smashing her bottle of bat's blood on the floor, just as the bell rang. Letting out an exasperated "darn it" she bent down to start cleaning it up.

"Do you want any help, Hermione?" asked Harry.

She shook her head, "No, this'll only take me a minute to clean up. I'll see you in Transfiguration."

Harry nodded, and he and Ron walked out of the dungeon.

Hermione stood, reaching into her bag for her wand, thinking it would be much quicker to clean it magically rather than in the Muggle fashion.

She heard someone clear their throat loudly. "Miss Granger, I am surprised that I would need to remind you that no magic is allowed in between classes," said Professor Snape strictly. "Five points from Gryffindor. Now clean that up, and hurry, I have another class waiting."

Fuming, Hermione put her wand away, grabbed some cloths and started to soak up the bat's blood. Rinsing her cloths several times, she saw Snape looking more and more furious. Finally he stopped her. "That will do, Miss Granger. You may leave."

Hermione snatched up her bag and stormed out of the dungeons, past the waiting class. Not only had Snape kept her there just long enough to make her late for Transfiguration, but also she desperately needed to go to the bathroom. Muttering angrily to herself, she rushed up the stairs, only to realise that the nearest bathroom was none other than Moaning Myrtle's. Cursing Snape under her breath, she ducked into the nearest stall. As she quickly washed her hands, she heard the bathroom door open. Curious to see who had come in, she turned. "I should have guessed," she said. "Look, Draco, I'm in a hurry; I'm already late for Transfiguration as it is."

Draco just smiled cockily and walked towards her. "But I haven't, uh, talked to you since yesterday."

"Draco," Hermione said warningly, "not now, _please_. I have to get to class."

Draco was now inches from her. Hermione looked away for a second, then looked at him and nodded her head slightly. This was all the encouragement Draco needed. He grabbed her and drew her tightly to him. Placing his hands behind her head, they began kissing passionately. At first Hermione was surprised by the freshness and eagerness that he was kissing her with; it wasn't like they hadn't seen each other for a few weeks. She soon overcame her shock and responded to him; that is, until she heard a loud, high-pitched giggle. Draco stopped kissing her, and spun around.

"_Who the heck are you?_" he roared angrily.

Hermione tapped Draco's arm. "That's Moaning Myrtle, Draco. She haunts this bathroom."

He whirled to face her, "And you _didn't_ think to tell me this. I don't mind an audience, Hermione, but in the future can you _tell_ me when we have one?" Myrtle continued to giggle, and Draco once again whirled around. "Would you _shut up_?" he said.

Myrtle let out a high-pitched cry, then turned and fled into her toilet stall. Draco smiled fixatedly, and turned on his heel to face Hermione, "At least she's gone now."

"And so should we be; class started ten minutes ago," Hermione said, looking at her watch, then at Draco, as he pouted. "Oh, you're so _cute_ when you do that!" She lent forwards and kissed him. "Now I really have to go."

Draco watched as she turned and ran out of the girl's bathroom.

Hermione opened the door to the Transfiguration classroom. "Sorry, Professor McGonagall. I had to clean up a spill in the Potions classroom."

McGonagall frowned at Hermione. "Take your seat please."

Hermione slipped into the seat next to Harry. "What took you so long?" he whispered as McGonagall turned to magic the instructions on the board.

"Snape wouldn't let me use magic to clean the blood up," she whispered back, "then I had to go to the bathroom and I got held up by Myrtle."

"_Miss Granger!_ You turned up late for my lesson, and now you are disrupting it again by talking. Ten points from Gryffindor, one more interruption and it will be fifty. Is that clear, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, Professor," said Hermione meekly.

Much to Hermione's dismay, the rest of that week and the next had a similar pattern to it: she spent her days and nights with Harry, studying and in classes, and spent many a frequent, short time cornered in a deserted room with Draco. Often she ended up crying herself to sleep, which, she thought, was a contradiction of how happy she truly had felt over the last two weeks. She had a terrible feeling about the next day, her two-week anniversary with Draco.

Hermione was surprised to find out how much she was looking forward to Saturday night with Draco. It was even distracting her from her schoolwork; in Potions, Harry lost count of the number of times he had to stop her from putting in the wrong ingredient.

"Are you sure you're all right, Hermione?" he asked, concerned. "You've been acting a little odd all week."

Hermione smiled at him. "I'm fine, Harry. This workload we've got has just made me a bit distracted," she said, trying her best to sound reassuring.

Ron looked up from his cauldron. "I'll agree with that. We've barely seen you recently, Hermione. You're always running off to the library at every chance you've got. Are you sure you don't want me to just move your bed into the library so that you can live there?"

Hermione glared at Ron. "No, thank you, Ron. I quite like my bed where it is."

He shrugged, and turned back to his cauldron.

Snape cleared his voice loudly. "You have five minutes left to complete your potion."

Distracted, Hermione looked up. "What?"

Harry looked at her. "Five minutes, 'Mione. What's wrong?"

"I – oh, nothing," she said, thinking quickly. "I just wanted a little while longer to make sure that the color is correct, mine's looking a bit more turquoise than blue."

Harry peered into her cauldron, looking confused. "That _is_ blue," he said.

Hermione cast a fake worried look on her face. "Oh, you think so?"

Harry just patted her on the back and went back to his work.

The bell rang just after all the students had put a sample of their potion on Snape's desk. Hermione hurriedly shoved all her books back into her bag, and started out of the classroom, not waiting for Harry and Ron.

"Hey," Harry called. "Where are you going?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder and called, "Bathroom. See you in History of Magic."

Harry and Ron stood watching as she sped off down a side corridor.

"Is it me, or has she been acting weird lately?" Harry asked Ron.

"It's not you, mate."

They were about to turn and head for their History of Magic classroom when they were bumped into from behind.

"Oh," said a condescending voice. "I didn't see you there. I guess my eyes only see people who are worth it."

Ron turned. "Oh bugger off, Malfoy."

Draco shrugged. "Have it your way," he said, and walked off down the same corridor as Hermione had.

Harry looked furious. "You would think that by now he would have gotten sick of trying to annoy us."

Ron shook his head. "He's a nutter, what more can I say?"


	6. One Person Two Many chapter six

**One Person Two Many**

**Chapter Six**

Hermione stood facing the door of the small supply closet that they'd agreed to meet in. As soon as he had made sure the door was closed and locked, Draco launched himself towards Hermione, and she happily wrapped her arms around him. After a few anxious minutes of passionate kissing, Hermione drew back from him slightly, and he could see that she had a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked.

"I think Harry's starting to suspect something's going on," she said.

"With me?" he asked.

"No, I don't think that he'd ever believe that I am seeing someone else, but I do think he knows that it's not just schoolwork that's been distracting me lately – he just can't figure out what else it could be."

Draco snorted. "Gryffindors," he stated. "Always so naive."

Hermione glared at him. "Oh, well if that's how you feel..."

He looked at her, shocked. "No, not at all, well, maybe about Potter and the Weasel, but not about you." She still didn't look satisfied, so he said, "Anyway, why are we talking about those two? We have another few minutes together, then we won't be seeing each other until tomorrow night."

This brought a smile to Hermione's face. "Mmm, tomorrow night," she said.

Draco smiled, "Are you looking forward to it then?" he asked.

Hermione looked thoughtful. "There are two ways to answer that," she said, "this is my favorite way." And with that she held Draco so tight that he couldn't move as she traced kisses all up and down his face, finally landing on his lips, where their tongues fought a brief battle.

A distant bell rang. "Damn it," she said. "We'd better go."

Draco nodded, in shock from the passion behind the kiss she'd just given him. She smiled, "See you tomorrow night." With that, she turned and left.

Getting away from the Gryffindor common room was always something that Hermione knew was going to be difficult. She had originally planned to stay up late, under the pretext of studying, until the common room was empty, then she would be free to leave. It was a tactic that she, Harry and Ron had used many times before. This time, she knew as soon as she came back from dinner that it would not work. There were simply too many people around, and someone had managed to smuggle a keg of butterbeer into the common room. How they had managed this, she could not be bothered to figure out, she was much too intent on planning her escape to meet Draco. Finally, she had to admit that she had only one option. She walked over to Harry and Ron, who were playing chess, and said, "I'll just be off to the library for awhile now."

They stopped their game, stared at each other, then at her.

"Hermione," Harry said, "I don't know if you realise this, but it's Saturday night. That means it's time to take a break from studying."

She shook her head. "I have too much work to do, Harry."

He just turned back to his game, pointedly ignoring her.

She turned and started to walk towards the portrait door.

"Uh, Hermione?" Ron called. "Aren't you going to need your books?"

She stopped dead. _Shit_, she thought. Pretending Ron hadn't spoken, she grabbed her bag from the table that she'd dumped it on earlier and left the common room.

As soon as the door had closed behind her, she started running. Down seven floors, she took the turning that led her to the secret entrance of the Slytherin rooms. Panting heavily, she knocked on his door.

It swung open. "Hermione?" he said, surprised to see her earlier than they had agreed to meet, but opening the door and letting her in. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to sneak out when I could," she replied, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him hello.

Draco shrugged. "Oh well, now we can start our little anniversary celebrations early," he paused, thinking. "Wait here for me until I come back. I won't be long."

He swept out of his room without further explanation. Hermione sat down on his bed, cross-legged, and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, savoring the scent that was always in the air of Draco's room. After all the time she had spent in here, she was still unable to put her finger on what the smell was; as soon as she thought she'd narrowed it down, it seemed to change. For once in her life, not being able to figure something out, even something as trivial as this, didn't worry her. She was far too relaxed here for it to bother her; this room had become her second home over the last two weeks.

The door creaked open, and Draco poked his head in, "This way," he said, reaching for her hand and pulling her gently off the bed.

She let him lead her out of the dungeons, and out into the silent main hallway. They walked up the many flights of stairs, some seeming to creak more than others, until she found herself at the top of the Astronomy Tower. For once, it was deserted. She turned to Draco, "How did you-"

He put a finger on her lips, "Shh."

She looked around. Behind a low balustrade that divided the Astronomy Tower into two sections a basket of food had been laid, which lay open next to the blanket that was spread out on the floor. Around the blanket lay dozens of flowers, all sparkling and changing color every few seconds. Her mouth literally dropped open. It was all so simple, so kind, and yet she was unbelievably touched.

Draco took in her expression, and guided her to sit down next to him on the blanket, where he made a show of pouring her a butterbeer into a glass and handing it to her with a flourish. She took the glass from him, and clinked it with his, still unsure of what to say to him.

They sat for a while, not speaking, just leaning against each other, as they drank butterbeer side-by-side and gazed out over the forest. Hermione finished her last sip of butterbeer and put down the glass next to the basket of food, then turned to Draco. He put down his glass with a scrape just as she gently pushed him backwards and lent over his body, kissing him gently. There was a thud as she knocked her foot against the floor, leaning over him. Draco's arms came up and encircled her neck, pulling her closer. Hermione heard a low gurgling sound, as if someone was being choked. Worried that Draco was suffocating slightly, but not wanting to complain, she eased off him a little, and looked down at him.

"Why'd ya stop for?" he asked, still slightly intoxicated by her.

Hermione shook her head. "No reason," she said.

"Are you ok?" Draco asked, sitting up, lifting a finger and placing it on her furrowed brow, smoothing out the creases.

Hermione stared at him for a moment before answering. She had a knot in her stomach, as though something wasn't right. She pushed away the thought of it–she didn't want to be consumed by guilt, not when they had the whole night ahead of them. "I'm fine."

"Good," replied Draco, lying back down.

Hermione smiled wryly, and decided to take the hint. She wrapped her arms around him, comfortably nestling herself to the curves of his body as she kissed him passionately.

There was a loud thud that this time Hermione knew hadn't come from her or Draco. Detaching herself from Draco, she sat up, looking dead ahead. Draco was gazing up at her, thinking about how it felt when she kissed him, when he saw her face drain of all visible color. He sat up, and saw what she did.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK ARE YOU DOING, HERMIONE?"


	7. One Person Two Many chapter seven

**One Person Two Many**

**Chapter Seven**

Harry stood there, invisibility cloak in hand, looking more furious than he had in his life. Hermione started to scramble to her feet, scared at the look of fury on Harry's face, but her legs gave out and she fell back onto the blanket. Draco caught her and steadied her. As Draco's hands touched Hermione's arms, Harry visibly shook.

"Get your hands off of her, Malfoy," he said, his voice quavering with danger. When Draco showed no sign of moving, Harry's temper broke. "Get _away_ from her. How _dare_ you touch her!" Harry suddenly strode over and wrenched Hermione up and away from Draco, nearly throwing her off, but keeping eye contact with Draco the entire time.

"Don't treat her like that," Draco said threateningly.

"_What_?" Harry said incredulously. "_You_, Draco _Malfoy_, are telling _me_ how to treat_ my girlfriend_?"

Draco just sat there with an insanely calm look on his face.

Frustrated, Harry turned his back on Draco and looked at Hermione. She had not moved from where she had landed on the floor when Harry had thrown her. Her eyes widened with panic when Harry walked towards her. Unable to speak, she was, for the first time in her life, terrified of Harry. His fury was clearly about to break fully, and she was scared of what he was capable of doing. She cowered back as he approached her. He grabbed her arm, yanking it up, and pulled her towards the Tower door.

Harry heard a shuffle behind him. Holding one of Hermione's wrists in an iron grasp, he pulled out his wand and pointed it directly at Draco.

"If you give me a reason to, I swear I will use the Cruciatus Curse on you, Malfoy," Harry said flatly.

Harry turned and pulled Hermione through the door and down the flights of stairs until they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common rooms on the seventh floor. The Fat Lady started to say hello, but Harry cut her off abruptly with the password. She swung forward and Harry stepped in, still dragging Hermione behind him.

As soon as the portrait door had closed, Harry once again flung Hermione away from him. She stumbled back and fell over a stack of disposable butterbeer cups. Ron, who had been sitting by the fire with Ginny, got up and ran to help Hermione, Ginny following hot on his heels.

Harry was still staring at Hermione, who was paying little attention to Ron and Ginny. They were just staring at each other, not saying a word. Ron looked from Harry to Hermione and saw the looks on their faces. He got up from beside Hermione and walked over to Harry. He reached to put a hand on Harry's shoulder, but Harry lifted up his hand and stopped Ron from touching him. Getting worried, Ron said quietly, "What's going on here, Harry?"

Harry took no notice of Ron's question; he still continued to stare at Hermione. Ron walked back from Harry and went over to Ginny.

"Umm, Ginny, I think it would be best if you went up to your dormitory," he whispered.

"Ron, what about all these other people?" Ginny shook her head, irritated, as she gestured to the large mass of students who were still drinking butterbeer and lounging around the common room.

Ron opened his mouth as if he were about to protest, but was interrupted by Hermione letting out a dry sob. Once she started, there was no way to stop her. Seemingly unable to cry, she sat on the floor, supported by Ginny, choking and coughing out her sobs.

Harry turned to head towards the stairs that led to the boy's dormitories.

"Harry, wait!" choked out Hermione.

He stopped and turned back to face her.

"What?" he said. "What could you _possibly_ have to say to me? How can you even _think_ that I want to talk to you after what you've done? What makes you think I even want to be in the same _room_ as you?"

Hermione started crying now, a flood of tears that ran down her face. "Harry, I – I didn't mean-"

Harry glared at her harder than he'd ever glared at anyone before in his life. "You didn't mean to. Well, everything's just fine and dandy then. You didn't mean to. _You didn't mean to start seeing Malfoy behind my back!_"

Hermione was shaking so hard now that Ginny had to let go of her, as she was unable to support her while she was shuddering so violently. All of the students in the Gryffindor common room had stopped what they were doing and were now listening to the fight avidly, some so drawn in that they seemed to hardly be breathing.

"_Harry_!" she cried, "I lo-"

Harry's face went hard. "You _love_ me?" he interrupted, his voice getting louder. "Well, let me tell you what _I_ think of you: you are nothing more than some slut. You _disgust_ me." He was yelling at her now. "I thought I knew you, Hermione. I thought you were smart, I thought you could be trusted. And now, now I don't want to ever speak to you again."

With that, Harry turned and stormed up the stairs to his dormitory. The students jumped out of his way, but he didn't even appear to notice that they were there. The common room was as silent as a funeral house until everyone heard the dormitory door slam. People slowly began moving again, picking up used cups and vanishing them. Harry's scene had destroyed the party atmosphere. Ginny was still sitting on the floor, trying to comfort Hermione. Ron hadn't moved; he was still staring where Harry had been standing, as if he hadn't been able to believe what he'd just heard.

Somewhat dumbfounded by this event that had suddenly unfolded in front of him like a summer storm, Ron turned to Hermione. "Is that true?" he asked her. "Did you a-and-"

"Ron!" Ginny said reproachfully as Hermione began a fresh wave of sobs. "I really don't think that now is the time for this. I need to get her to her room."

Immediately contrite, Ron said, "Of course. Sorry, Ginny. Let me help you."

Ginny shook her head. "Stairs, Ron, remember?"

"Oh, right." Ron nodded. "Well, let me know if there is anything I can do."

Ginny nodded, and then started coaxing Hermione to get up so that she could get her into bed quickly.


	8. One Person Two Many chapter eight

**One Person Two Many**

**Chapter Eight**

Hermione woke up the next morning feeling as if she'd drunk an entire keg of butterbeer. Last night's events came back to her almost before she was awake, though she doubted that they'd ever left her head. It was impossible for her to know what to do.

There was a light tapping at her door. "Hermione?" Ginny called, "Are you awake yet?"

"Yeah, I am," said Hermione, tears apparent in her voice already.

Ginny came in and sat at the edge of Hermione's bed. "Are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

Hermione shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "No, no I'm not."

Ginny moved and sat next to Hermione on her bed, putting a comforting arm around her.

"Do you want to talk?" Ginny asked.

"Yes. No. I don't know," replied Hermione miserably. "Oh, Ginny. Why am I so stupid? What made me cheat on Harry? And why did I have to cheat on him with Draco, his arch enemy?"

Ginny made comforting noises as Hermione kept sobbing.

"I had such a good relationship with Harry, and I do love him Ginny, I really do," she cried.

Ginny smiled sympathetically, "Shh, shh, I know, Hermione, I know, and so does Harry. He's just angry at the moment."

At the mention of Harry's anger, Hermione began shaking again. She had truly been terrified of him the night before; she'd never seen his anger directed at her with such intensity before.

Ginny say with Hermione until the majority of her sobs had subsided, then stood and said, "Are you all right if I leave now?"

Hermione nodded, then, in an attempt to make normal conversation, asked, "What are you doing today?"

Ginny looked suddenly very uncomfortable, "I – I'm meeting Dean later, and we're going to spend some time together."

Hermione nodded mutely.

Ginny started to leave, then stopped with her hand on the door, "Are you sure you're ok? I can spend time with Dean another day if you want me to."

"No, go. Really," Hermione said, as Ginny started to protest. "Just be good to Dean, Ginny."

Ginny nodded, accepting that the older girl needed to cry some more on her own, and left.

Hermione curled back up in her bed. What was the point in leaving her room? Given the amount of Gryffindors that had witnessed her fight with Harry last night, the whole school would know by now, and they would all be judging her for what she did. 'No!' she said firmly to herself. 'I have a right to leave this room, and I will.' She swung her legs out of her bedclothes and headed to the prefect's bathroom. Thankfully, it was empty, everyone appearing to have already showered, as she was up so late. As she stood in the shower, allowing the hot water to run over her, she saw the faces of the few Gryffindors that had still been in the common room when she walked through. They were all so judging, so quick to assume that she was a horrible person. Hermione closed her eyes, but this just made the faces of the accusing students appear more vividly against the blackness. Her knees buckled, and she slid down the shower wall until she was sitting, the hot water still cascading over her.

After a while, she left the prefect's bathroom and headed back to her room to drop off her pajamas, this time purposely not making eye contact with any of the students in the common room. She headed straight back out of Gryffindor tower and down to the hall for breakfast. At this time of day, there were only a handful of students still eating, most having left to go enjoy the sunshine out on the grounds. This was something Hermione was most grateful for, as she still had no desire to be looked at curiously by the entire school population. She sat down at the Gryffindor table, her nearest housemate at least half a dozen seats away. As she ate her breakfast with her usual speed and gusto, she decided that, like the rest of the student population, the day was too beautiful to spend inside, so she finished quickly then headed out for a walk around the lake. It was one of those rare, perfect days, with hardly a cloud in the sky, a warm temperature, but a relaxing cooling breeze. She strolled at a relaxed pace around the lake, doing her best not to think about the night before. Just as she had managed to get most of the events out of her mind, she came across a sight that she hadn't expected to see. Harry and Ron were sitting under their favorite tree, and from the looks of it, they'd seen her long before she'd seen them. She froze unconsciously, unsure of what to do. Mentally shaking herself, she walked towards them.

"Morning, Ron," she said.

Ron looked quickly at Harry, then back at Hermione. "Er-hi, Hermione. Nice day, isn't it?"

Harry stood up just as Hermione was about to reply to Ron. Glaring at her, he started to walk past her, back up to the castle.

"Harry," Hermione said, grabbing his arm, "is this what it's going to be like from now on? We can't even say good morning without glaring at each other? I would have thought-"

Harry turned to face her. "You would have thought, Hermione? No, one thing I learnt about you last night is that you _don't_ think. At least, not about anything other than school or yourself."

Unwillingly feeling herself blush, but simultaneously feeling a hot flush of anger, she replied, "Harry, for once in your life, stop feeling so misunderstood and taken advantage of and just grow up. I admit that what I did wasn't fair to you, and that I could have handled the situation better, but you don't have to be so immature about this. I made a mistake, Harry, and I'm willing to admit that, and apologise for it."

"This has nothing to do with you apologising to me, Hermione. I don't care if you feel sorry about what you did. What bothers me is that you were willing to sacrifice nearly seven years of friendship for some stupid fling. It's not only that you betrayed your boyfriend, it's that you betrayed my trust in you." Seeing Ron milling behind Hermione nervously, he added, "You betrayed both mine and Ron's trust in you by this little fling with Malfoy."

Ron's eyes widened, not wanting to be brought into the fight. "I-I'm going back to the common room," he said, hesitating for a moment, looking at his two best friends, then taking off at a brisk walk.

This time it was Hermione's turn to glare at Harry, "That was a great display of friendship, Harry, dragging Ron into the middle of this."

Harry shook his head, annoyed with himself, "Fine, we'll leave him out of this. But that doesn't change the fact that what you did was a brutal betrayal of our friendship."

"So you'd still be reacting this way even if we hadn't been dating and I'd got involved with Malfoy, because it's a betrayal of our friendship?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," Harry replied stubbornly.

"Well Ron doesn't seem to mind too much, and he's been my friend for as long as you have, Harry," she pointed out, "and don't try to tell me that he wouldn't talk to me about it, even if it meant me getting angry, you know how much we used to argue."

"We're leaving Ron out of this, remember?" Harry told her scathingly. "I just can't get over the fact that you, Hermione Granger of all people, would be stupid enough to get involved with a Slytherin, and not just any Slytherin, the worst of them all, Draco Malfoy!"

Realisation dawned on Hermione. "Harry, I don't know if you realise this, but I'm _not_ eleven any more. I'm _not_ the same little girl that you had to rescue from the troll," her voice rose a few notches, approaching hysteria in pitch, "and I'm NOT _your _little girl anymore!" she exclaimed, a few tears of frustration and sadness slipping out.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut again, apparently at a loss for words.

Hermione continued, her voice back to normal volume, although it was slightly shaky, "There's an independent person in here that can take care of herself and control her own life, Harry. I'm sorry you don't realise that."

Harry closed his eyes, as if he were trying to block out what she'd just said. Seeming to find that ineffective, he shook his head, turned and stalked back up to the castle.

Hermione leant against the tree and watched him go.

It was only when the combination of hunger and people's stares got to Hermione that she got up from against the tree and headed towards the castle. Slowly walking through the double doors that were the main entrance to the castle, Hermione was aware of a void of silence that was following her. Getting sick of being looked at like she was some sort of specimen, she turned; ready to snap at whoever was there. "Would you just..." her voice trailed off. It was Ron. Hermione blushed. "Sorry, Ron. I didn't mean to yell at you."

He smiled uncomfortably. "I know, Hermione. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

Hermione sighed. "I could be better. Ron, do you think Harry will hate me forever? It hasn't even been twenty-four hours and I just don't think that I can bear to have the whole school thinking I'm the biggest slut around. And," she continued, tears starting to slide down her face again, "I can't go through the rest of my last year here with Harry not speaking to me."

Ron gently took Hermione's arm and led her into the closest empty classroom and sat her down. Hermione half-heartedly wiped some of the tears off her face and looked up at Ron, who was staring down at her with the utmost sympathy.

"Please, Ron, if you do anything, don't look at me like that. I don't need sympathy. I know what I did. I know I have to live with it. I know that Harry may never forgive me. But one thing I know above all else is that I love Harry."

Ron nodded. "Did you... do you love Draco?" he asked.

Hermione swallowed hard. This was the question that nobody had yet thought to ask her. She looked at the ground. "I don't know. And yes, I know that's the easy answer to give, but it's the truth. I know I felt something for him, Ron, or else I'd never have gone and done anything with him."

Ron nodded again. "But who do you love more, Hermione? You can't have both."

Hermione looked up at Ron. "Am I ever going to have either again?"

Ron shrugged. "I can't tell you that. All I can say is that you need to make a choice – a choice that I can't help you make. You have to make it by yourself."

Hermione nodded briefly, accepting that what Ron said made sense, but not willing to think of the implications of what she had to do. "I'm so sorry that you have to put up with this situation, Ron."

"Listen, as I said when you and Harry first started going out, nothing has changed, and nothing will change with us three. As much as I thought it'd never happen to you two, I knew that, at some point, it was entirely possible for me to end up caught in the middle of some argument. I won't pretend I enjoy it, but I am your friend, and I will always be your friend."

Hermione's eyes were glistening again. Ron gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and left the classroom.

Hermione stayed in the classroom until it was dark out, completely forgetting about dinner. She had more important things to think about. Ron was right; she knew she had to make a choice. But whom should she choose? With Harry, she had a long history of both friendship and relationship; he was the second boy she'd kissed, although she wondered if Krum counted, as she hadn't ever really been _that_ interested in him. _No!_ She admonished herself. This wasn't about Krum, even if running off to Bulgaria was looking like an attractive option right now. This was about herself, and the position she'd willingly put herself in. She knew that she was going to have to face up to what she had done, after all, the only person who could successfully clear up a mess is usually the person who got themselves into it. Tears started falling down her face as she thought about the situation. Most especially, she wondered who she was going to lose because of this. Realising that if she was going to be true to herself, she really only had one possible course of action, Hermione dragged herself out of the chair, and left the classroom.

She trudged slowly up the stairs, as if she were trying to drag out the inevitable moment when she would find out who she had lost over this. As she wandered past Myrtle's bathroom, a familiar voice called out her name. She closed her eyes, hoping that she'd imagined it, but sure enough, he walked up behind her, and slipped his arms around her waist. She twisted out of his grip. "Look, Draco, I can't do this," she said.

"You're going to beg for Potter to take you back." It wasn't even a question.

"I owe it to him, Draco." Hermione said simply.

Draco raised his eyebrow inquiringly. "You owe it to him? Well, sure, I can see how you'd owe something to someone who you willingly cheated on almost non-stop for two weeks; I can see how much you owe him, Hermione, I really can," he said sarcastically.

Hermione bristled. "Look, I don't expect you to understand, Draco."

"Do me what looks like my last favour, _Hermione_, and try me."

Hermione relented, supposing that this was what she owed him: a last explanation. "It's quite simple actually. Ron made me realise it earlier: Seven years of friendship has to come before anything else. I'm not saying I felt nothing for you, of all people I think you know that would be a lie if I said that, but I just feel this is the right thing to do."

Draco took this unflinchingly. "You do understand that if this conversation ends the way it appears to be going, there is no turning back, whatever happens? And I don't mean with Harry."

Hermione nodded. "I know."

"You could end up alone."

"Better off alone than never having attempted to reconcile a long friendship. I'm sorry, Draco. If you will believe one thing I say, please believe that."

He nodded curtly, then turned and walked off down the corridor without looking back.

Hermione continued up the flights of stairs. As she climbed through the portrait door and into the Gryffindor common room, Hermione realised that this was the end. If this didn't work, she'd have lost one of the main things that made her life at Hogwarts enjoyable.

The moment she entered the common room, it fell silent. Knowing there was no way that she could ask everyone to leave, she focused her attention on Harry, ignoring the eyes that followed her as she walked across the room towards Harry and Ron. "Harry?" He kept walking towards the door to the boys' stairs. "_Harry_." He turned to face her, although she could sense his reluctance. "I just wanted to say that I will never be seeing Draco again. He and I are over, once and for all. I know you don't want to hear this, but I do love you Harry. I am more sorry than you will ever know for putting you through all this. I know I can't just wave my wand and make this all go away, but, if it's at all possible, I would like you stay friends with you, Harry."

Harry broke eye contact with her. "Actually, you could make it go away," he shrugged. "Memory charms, remember?"

Ron's eyes widened, but he had the good sense to stay quiet.

"I-is that really what you want?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"No," Harry sighed.

"So what do you think," she pressed on, aware that this would probably be her only chance to speak to him about this, "about us being friends?"

Harry looked around the common room at all the eyes on him. He shrugged, "One day, I guess it could happen." With that, he turned and disappeared up the boys' staircase.

Ron came over to her. "Give it time, Hermione," he said as he gave her a quick hug before going to sit with Ginny.

As Hermione climbed the stairs to her dormitory, she thought about everything. She knew she would never regain what she'd lost, but at least now she could now be sure that she'd done the right thing. As Harry had said, maybe one day everything could be back to normal.


End file.
